By Duncan Hughes, Systems Engineering Director EMEA, A10 Networks.

CTERA Networks has introduced a fully automated and secure in-cloud and cloud-to-cloud data protection solution that allows enterprises to protect any number of servers across any cloud infrastructure.CTERA Cloud Server Data Protection is designed for enterprise Cloud Operations (CloudOps) teams that have been forced to rethink data protection strategies as they migrate workloads natively within and across clouds in a new era of cloud services and IT-as-a-Service (ITaaS) delivery.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself….

We are amidst an ongoing transformation. One in which the benefits can outweigh the challenges, but awareness, education and following basic best practices that are embedded within daily activities are critical to protecting oneself and reducing the possibility of a breach.

Last week, I blogged on the combined Data Protection portfolios of Dell and EMC. 

Dateline City: SUNNYVALE, Calif.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR), the industry leader in network innovation, today released details about its upcoming participation at OpenStack Summit Tokyo, a bi-annual conference for developers, users and administrators of OpenStack Cloud Software. Juniper will have its Juniper Networks® Contrail and cloud networking experts available to discuss the latest requirements and innovations in automation and service orchestration to build and manage open cloud networks.

Media Relations:
Juniper Networks
Gina Wong, +65- 6511-3574
ginawong@juniper.net
or
For Juniper Networks
Saori Adachi, +81 (3) 4360-9027
Saori.Adachi@edelman.com

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Rearchitecting the Enterprise: Why Now Is the Time

Guest Blog Post by: Johna Till Johnson, CEO Nemertes Research

A few weeks ago, I wrote a paper on why it’s important for enterprise architects to focus on re-­designing and re-­architecting enterprise infrastructure—starting today. 

To put it simply: things have changed. Data now lives on the cloud (public, private, or hybrid). Mobile devices are on track to outnumber wired ones. Applications are increasingly bandwidth-­‐hungry and latency-­‐sensitive (think video, but also virtualized devices).  The universe of security threats is expanding. 

In our ESG Lab group, we have a saying: “It’s easy to prove something doesn’t work, but it’s really hard to prove something does.”

Even so, I’m a little surprised at the volume of naysayers that are popping up post Dell/EMC merger announcement. Some of the things I’m hearing and reading are just plain dumb. Thus, allow me to straighten you all out.

First, let’s agree Mr. Dell is not an idiot. On the contrary, he’s about 25 billion times smarter than you and I. Second, we should probably agree that Mr. Tucci is pretty smart himself. He took a ragtag bunch who appeared near the end of the customer abuse cycle, with one real product (Symmetrix), and turned it into a powerhouse that has dominated the storage world for decades, and, oh yeah, brought you VMware.

Recently, I sat down with Terri McClure, ESG’s mobility analyst, to discuss the implications of Dell’s acquisition of EMC from a cloud, mobility and converged/hyperconverged markets perspective.

Contrail Customers Speak Out at the OpenStack Summit

Tokyo, here we come!

My favorite industry event - the OpenStack Summit – is right around the corner in Tokyo, October 27-30. I love this event for two reasons. First, the amount of buzz around OpenStack and the rapid pace of change, invention, and real problem solving is completely invigorating...

Improving data backup and recovery was the second most commonly cited IT priority for 2015 among respondents surveyed by ESG for its 2015 IT spending intentions report (see Figure 1).

While last week’s Dell/EMC merger was certainly a blockbuster, nothing specific was mentioned about future plans for RSA Security. Michael Dell did say that there were a “number of discussions about security” during the negotiations, but apparently, no concrete plans yet. Infosec reporters have lobbed phone calls into Round Rock Texas as well as Bedford and Hopkinton, MA looking for more details, but Dell and EMC officials haven’t responded.

Campus network switches aren’t updated as frequently as data center switches, but there are some compelling reasons why it may be worthwhile to upgrade now and not wait until the end of a regular refresh cycle.

Practically speaking, campus networking is wireless networking, and there are more devices connecting to the network. More devices mean more bandwidth requirements, and it’s hard to figure out what BYOD devices are going to be doing, whether it’s just plain download bandwidth, a time critical application like VoIP, or a sudden surge like Apple iOS version updates. And once end-users are tied to a new way of using devices, network teams are often forced to adapt. BYOD not only means bring your own devices, but adds, “because you’re overly demanding”.

SRX and LN series platforms complete Common Criteria Certification and are listed on the NIAP Product Compliant List

Juniper Networks SRX and LN series platforms complete Common Criteria Certification and are listed on the NIAP Product Compliant List as Firewalls and VPN devices. 

Certifications were with Junos 12.1X46. 

The SRX1400, SRX3400, and SRX3600 were certified against the NIAP Network Device Protection Profile plus the Firewall Extended Package.

            The Security Target for these devices is located here.

            The Certification Report can be found here.

The SRX100-650 and the SRX5800 and the LN1000 and LN2600 were certified against the NIAP Network Device Protection Profile plus the Firewall Extended Package and the IPsec Gateway VPN Extended Package.

            The Security Target for these devices is located here.

            The Certification Report can be found here.

Listing on the NIAP PCL is required by Federal policy for many different cases.  First, as the NIAP PCL webpage states- “U.S. Customers (designated approving authorities, authorizing officials, integrators, etc.) may treat these mutually-recognized evaluation results as complying with the Committee on National Security Systems Policy (CNSSP) 11 National Policy Governing the Acquisition of Information Assurance (IA) and IA-Enabled Information Technology (IT) Products - dated June 2013 (https://www.cnss.gov/policies.html)”. 

CNSSP 11 applies to any US Government system carrying classified data at any level and to systems carrying certain command and control traffic regardless of the classification.

NIAP PCL listing is required by the DISA Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG)s for many product categories.  NIAP PCL listing is required for DoD Cloud providers who are handling Impact Level 5 and 6 information, and in other Federal Government acquisitions that require the NIST 800-53, rev 4- SA-4 (7) control.

Some tech companies are always associated with their first acts. Dell just acquired my first employer, EMC Corporation, in order to expand its enterprise portfolio, yet the company will always be linked with personal computers and its founder’s dorm room. F5 has become a nexus that brings together networks and applications but will always retain the moniker of a load balancing company. Bit9 has established itself as a major next-generation endpoint player, yet some people can only think of its original focus on white listing.

The fact that major IT vendors are consolidating isn’t a surprise, given the feedback we hear from IT professionals about wanting to work with fewer vendors that can be more strategic to their business.

The Dell/EMC acquisition also lends itself to further validation that traditional IT consumption models are being disrupted, and it is difficult to transform business models and/or continue to operate in a single proverbial IT silo. Some of this dynamic is due to a valid means of consuming IT services from public cloud providers, and the rest can be credited to IT being too complex for too long. While Dell and EMC will not position it as such, the acquisition is poised to capitalize on the fact that IT is slow and difficult to change. This fact is good for Dell/EMC as they will continue to service this massive base even as business consume more services from the cloud.